4C ENTERTAINMENT
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008
crossword 2
ACROSS
1 Jason's ship
5 Tibetan beast
8 Hurried
12 Actress Jessica
13 — out a living
14 There-fore
15 Chris Martin's band
17 Bellow
19 Snifter contents
21 19th Amendment beneficiary
24 Young horse
25 Last notice
26 Defend yourself, possum-style
30 Sinbad's bird
31 Jurors, e.g.
32 Pair
33 Jerry Garcia fan
35 Think (over)
36 Tears
37 The 24 in
38 Thread holders
41 Founda-
42 Matador's op-
ponent
43 Com-
mon aliment
48 Memo abbr.
49 Sphere
50 Very eager
51 Depend (on)
52 Method
53 History
answers for all puzzles on page 10
DOWN
1 Regis and Kelly's network
2 Carnival city
3 Solidify
4 Trite
5 Shrill bark
6 Alias abbr.
7 QWERTY, for instance
8 Boston news-paper
9 Press
10 "Zounds!"
11 Flat-bottomed boat
16 Brooch
20 Beams of light
21 Information
22 Reed instrument
23 Isinglass
24 Dog bane
26 XXX-rated entertainment
27 Needle case
28 Puncturing tools
29 Lummox
31 Dr. McGraw
34 Flaccid
35 Wild and crazy
37 Marry
38 Constellation component
39 Sit for a snapshot
40 Verbal
41 Infant
44 Mound stat
45 Eggs
46 Fleur-de- —
47 Banned bug spray
Groups protest film 'Tropic Thunder'
MOVIES
Organizations, including Special Olympics, angered by scenes which they say degrade mentally disabled
Timothy Shriver, right, special Olympics chairman and chief executive officer, holds a sign criticizing the upcoming film "Tropic Thunder" across the street from the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Aug. 11.
BY DERRIK J. LANG ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — "Tropic Thunder" is pushing the boundaries of good taste too far for groups representing the mentally disabled.
Dozens of people from organizations such as the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities protested the movie-industry spoof across the street from the film's Los Angeles premiere at Mann's Bruin Theatre on Monday. The protesters held up signs with slogans such as "Call me by my name, not by my label" and chanted phrases like "Ban the movie, ban the word."
"I think it's open to interpretation and that's the great thing," Robert Downey Jr., who stars in the film, told AP Television at the Monday night premiere. "You know, if I want to protest something because it offends me that's my right as an American, and it's also any artist's right to say and do whatever they wanna do."
The groups are outraged over scenes featuring the liberal usage of a disparaging term used to describe the mentally disabled. In the movie, director and co-star Ben Stiller plays a fame-hungry actor cast in a war movie who previously had a role as a mentally disabled character named Simple Jack.
“When I heard about it, I felt really hurt inside,” said Special Olympics global messenger Dustin Plunkett. “I cannot believe a writer could write something like that. It’s the not the way that we want to be portrayed. We have feelings. We don't like the word 'retard.' We are people”
"I have a sense of humor," said Imparato. "There were parts of the movie where I laughed, but it seems to me that the movie tried really hard to go too far and then
Andrew J. Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said he and other advocacy groups met with DreamWorks co-chair Stacey Snider and watched a private screening of the film Monday morning. Imparato called the movie "tasteless" and said it was "offensive to start finish."
pull back on everything that was offensive except the issue of people with intellectual disabilities. I just think Ben Stiller and the people involved in this movie just didn't think it was going to be offensive."
Following the original complaints from the advocacy groups, DreamWorks pulled some promotional materials, including a Web site that promoted the film-within-a-film starring Stiller's character which contained the tag line "Once there was a retard." DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan previously said in a statement that "no changes or cuts to the film will be made"
"If you want to pick on people, as the old playground saying goes, pick on people your own size," said Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, who is calling for a boycott of "Tropic Thunder" along with the other groups. "This population struggles too much with the basics to have to struggle against Hollywood. We're sending a message that this hate speech is no longer acceptable."
COMEDY
Duo settles past arguments to reunite for first time in more than 25 years
Cheech and Chong prepare for tour
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cheech Marin, left, and Tommy Chong pose together at Sunset Strip Music Festival opening night tribute event in Los Angeles. Now that their feud is up in smoke, Cheech and Chong are high on plans to reunite for their first come-to-die tour in more than 25 years. Cheech Marin told AP Radio that he and Tommy Chong "looked at each other going. 'If we're ever going to do something it has to be now because you're not getting any younger and neither am I.'"
LOS ANGELES — Their feud finally having gone up in smoke, Cheech and Chong say they're eager to get back on the road for their first comedy tour in more than 25 years.
BY EDWIN TAMARA ASSOCIATED PRESS
"We had such a legacy, such a history. We couldn't escape it, even if we tried," Tommy Chong told reporters at a news conference Wednesday at the Troubadour, the Los Angeles nightclub where the pair were discovered more than 35 years ago.
The duo said their "Light Up America" tour would kick off Sept. 12 in Philadelphia.
"it's going to be very theatrical," said Cheech Marin.
If Wednesday's news conference was an indication, it won't spare the pothead humor, either.
"We're definitely still smoking," Chong said when asked.
"I get transfusions now," quipped Marin.
"I like the taste" Chong said. "I'm old fashioned."
Marin told AP Radio earlier this month that he and the 70-year-old Chong had recently decided that if ever they were to reunite the time was now because, "You're not getting any younger and neither am I."
They tossed around some ideas and figured a comedy tour would be "the most fun" and "the least hassle," the 62-year-old Marin said.
Marin and Chong, who broke up amid creative differences, have tried to reunite before, but have always fought too much.
During their original run, Marin and Chong released nine comedy albums between 1972 and 1985, were nominated for four Grammy Awards and won one. They also starred in eight feature films, almost always portraying a pair of comical stoners.
"We've gotten to the age where we don't feel like fighting anymore." Marin said, "because the end is a lot closer than the beginning."
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